Defiant Occupy Oakland protesters seize 'new home'

OAKLAND?? Anti-Wall Street protesters took over a vacant lot and adjacent park in downtown Oakland late Saturday and erected a tent camp to replace one torn down by police, setting the stage for a potential showdown.

Protesters marched to the lot and tore down a chain-link fence before pitching tents as a light rain started. Police on the scene did not immediately intervene and the camp later expanded into an adjacent public park.

"Occupy Oakland has a new home at 19th and Telegraph," organizers said in a message to supporters, adding there would be a big "housewarming" party. "Bring tents!"

The move appeared to be a direct challenge to Oakland police who less than a week ago forcibly dismantled a similar protest camp nearby , and risked igniting a confrontation. Police have said they would not allow another encampment.

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Lobbying firm's plan to undermine Occupy

Previous unrest surrounding protests in Oakland has helped rally support nationwide for the Occupy Wall Street movement launched in New York in September to protest economic inequality and excesses of the financial system.

The lot and adjacent park are in a rapidly gentrifying area, and protesters said establishing a camp there would be a symbolic move in a city they complained looked out most "for the interests of big business and developers" over ordinary residents.

Oakland police had said they had a "non-confrontational strategy" for preventing a new campsite from being established, but did not elaborate.

"While peaceful forms of expression and freedom of speech will be facilitated, acts of violence, property destruction and overnight lodging will not be tolerated," police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said in a statement.

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Watson added that surrounding streets had been closed and officers were protecting surrounding buildings.

One nearby resident expressed unhappiness about the new site.

"I supported Occupy Oakland," Sherbeam Wright told the San Francisco Chronicle. "At this point I don't know what they stand for anymore."

Fatal shooting
Police on Monday evicted protesters from their camp in Frank Ogawa plaza after weeks of indecision over how to deal with the protests, spurred to act after a fatal shooting nearby fueled pressure on the city to close the camp down.

"I support the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and I am a passionate supporter of freedom of speech. However, camping on city property ? whether it is in a park or in open space ? is illegal and won't be allowed," Mayor Jean Quan said in a statement on Friday.

An earlier attempt to remove the camp in October had sparked clashes between protesters and police that wounded a former U.S. Marine and evolved into one of the most violent episodes linked to the Occupy movement.

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The Oakland protesters also announced plans to shut down all West Coast ports on Dec. 12, cooperating with protesters in Los Angeles. The Oakland group had briefly forced the northern California city's port to close earlier this month.

'Visual statement'
As a cold, wet night enveloped the new camp on Saturday, a few hundred protesters took shelter under a canopy of blue tarps and huddled in about 25 tents as police watched from a distance.

One man, pushing a shopping cart, passed out rocks and sticks "just in case" as organizers pleaded for protesters to stay and "defend" the encampment.

"I think it's important to be able to show an ongoing presence. It's to show our physical numbers. It makes a visual statement," said Thandiwe Satterwhite, a Berkeley music teacher who carried a placard saying "Do Not Disturb Occupants."

To the north in Davis, the University of California campus in that city said it would launch an investigation over video footage that appeared to show campus police using pepper spray against seated student protesters at close range.

Story: UC Davis chancellor says she won't step down over pepper-spraying

"Yesterday was not a day that would make anyone on our campus proud," UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi wrote in a public statement. "The use of pepper spray as shown on the video is chilling to us all and raises many questions about how best to handle situations like this."

She described the video images as "chilling."

In the video, an officer dispassionately pepper-sprays a line of several sitting protesters who flinch and cover their faces but remain passive with their arms interlocked as onlookers shriek and scream out for the officer to stop.

However, a law enforcement official who watched the clip called the use of force "fairly standard police procedure."

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As the images were circulated widely on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter on Saturday, the university's faculty association called on Katehi to resign, saying in a letter there had been a "gross failure of leadership."

At a news conference, Katehi said what the video shows is, "sad and really very inappropriate" but defended her leadership and said she had no plans to resign.

The protest was held in support of the overall Occupy Wall Street movement and in solidarity with protesters at the University of California, Berkeley who were jabbed by police with batons on Nov. 9.

Slideshow: Occupy Wall Street: A day of action (on this page)

Charles J. Kelly, a former Baltimore Police Department lieutenant who wrote the department's use of force guidelines, said pepper spray is a "compliance tool" that can be used on subjects who do not resist, and is preferable to simply lifting protesters.

"When you start picking up human bodies, you risk hurting them," Kelly said. "Bodies don't have handles on them."

After reviewing the video, Kelly said he observed at least two cases of "active resistance" from protesters. In one instance, a woman pulls her arm back from an officer. In the second instance, a protester curls into a ball. Each of those actions could have warranted more force, including baton strikes and pressure-point techniques.

"What I'm looking at is fairly standard police procedure," Kelly said.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45374977/ns/us_news-life/

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